


We've come a long way

by Lacertae



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Blood, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Interspecies Relationship(s), M/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-06-01 21:49:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6537505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lacertae/pseuds/Lacertae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*Karkat/Dave* written for dyonoi's prompt on tumblr</p><p>"petition for davekat content with karkat comforting dave after having to decapitate dirk. because even if dirk was fine that shits gotta be really traumatizing, especially to a guy that hates fighting and doesnt want to hurt anyone."</p>
            </blockquote>





	We've come a long way

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like this as much as I liked writing it!

**We've come a long way**

It did not take long before the sight of John hugging Jane’s father made the rest of the teens feel like they were intruding in something private, especially when Jane herself ran towards them to get her father’s attention as well.

Mindful of allowing John and Jane some time to sort things out between themselves and Dad Crocker under the watchful gaze of a floating Nanna, one after the other the group of teens looked away, mingling with one another again.

Terezi shuffled to the edge of the platform, empty eyes fixed on a faraway spot, mouth parted slightly to try and sniff for the eventual familiar smell of her moirail finally coming back to her; the solitary figure huddled in the corner did not go unnoticed, and ever mindful of the situation, Kanaya gently pressed one hand to Rose’s shoulder to let her know where she was going, and moved to her friend to offer some words to her.

Rose watched her go with a knowing smile, then returned her own attention to Roxy and Jade, who had approached her with Calliope for some long awaited introductions, and all four of them had warm, happy smiles on their faces.

Karkat turned around, his gaze instantly falling on Dave, who had retreated a little to the side, and he moved automatically to join him, passing by Dirk who seemed to be holding a somewhat awkward conversation with Jake; Dave’s head moved to him as he approached, and there was a small, soft smile still on his lips.

“Hey,” Dave greeted him, nudging him in the side. “Thought you’d be sucking up all that mushy stuff over there with John and Crocker Dad, but I guess they’re too much even for you”.

Karkat returned his smile with one of his own.

“Glad to see you’re still in one piece,” Karkat replied instead, looking Dave up and down, “Good to know we didn’t fuck up yet”.

He had expected Dave to chime up with a joke of his own, as had become customary between them, but what he got was a split second of silence, then “so do tell Karkat, what sort of majestic, heroic stunts did you pull? No need to refrain man, just dump it all on these ears yearning to drink up your tale, don’t make me wait”.

It was not that there was anything wrong with him, or that Dave was behaving differently than normal, but… Karkat had spent three years with Dave, learning to recognise his attempts at diverting attention from himself, and this… this was one of them.

“Dave, what happened?” he looked at him, taking notice of the dirty, bloody clothes and the ripped cape, but he did not find anything wrong with him. He looked to where Terezi was, then to Dirk. Terezi looked just as battered as Dave was, but her back was straight and she did not look hurt, only tired. Dirk though… Dirk’s clothes were pristine, not exactly what one would expect from a fight. Karkat knew right away what that meant. “Move your ass, Dave”.

He pressed a guiding hand to Dave’s back and pushed him towards an edge of the platform, as far from the rest of the group as they could go with such a limited space at their disposal; nobody was paying attention to them, and everybody else seemed to be busy talking with each other, and this was as much privacy as they could afford for the moment.

“Sit,” he ordered, and when Dave merely looked at him, he nudged him again. This time Dave went down without a fight, and Karkat knew there was something they would need to discuss. “Now, talk”.

Tilting his head to the side, Dave seemed to consider that, turning his attention to where the closest group was –Dirk and Jake, neither of which seemed to be paying them any attention whatsoever. Karkat could see himself reflected in Dave’s shades as a few more seconds ticked bye… then his shoulders tensed up before he forced them to relax. “There’s not much to tell,” he said, but his tone was clipped and he was avoiding the subject.

Karkat hesitated for a moment, wondering if this was the right time to have a heart-to-heart, then he resolved to push a little, because if they needed to focus on finishing shit up, Dave had to come clear with whatever was eating him from the inside.

“Dave,” he stressed his name a bit, and then inched closer to him, until their shoulders were pressed together. It was not as much contact as Karkat wanted, but they were not alone with one another, and this fact was present in the back of his mind, not allowing him to fully act on his instincts. He wanted to wrap an arm around Dave’s shoulder and tug him close, but he could see how tense Dave still was, and he knew he would reject even that.

When it came to physical contact, Dave was ok with initiating it, as it was all in his own perceived control, but accepting some took him a longer time, and surrounded as they were with their friends, Dave would not want something too blatant.

Karkat understood this far too much, so he did not follow up his instincts. Instead he inched his hand to where Dave’s was, right on the edge of the platform, and stopped there, their fingers barely touching; it seemed to do the trick, because the casual contact made Dave aware of Karkat’s presence, and he deflated visibly at his side.

“I’m not moving my ass from your side until you fess up what the fuck went on that had you this rattled, so you’d better start fessing up before I have to poke it out of you,” Karkat added, in a no-nonsense voice.

“Dirk died,” Dave finally confessed, his voice no louder than a whisper.

He still looked tense, but he was hunched over, and Karkat closed his eyes for a moment. Just with that he could come up with enough reasons as to why Dave was so unsettled, parallels with Dave’s bro and his own hero complex on top of it all, but by the way he looked, curled on himself and pale, Karkat knew Dirk’s _death_ was not the point.

He was right.

Karkat listened as Dave painted a dull recounting of the fight, nowhere close to the vivid, bright images he’d normally paint –yet, it was enough for Karkat to be able to see it from behind closed eyelids. The moment Dirk looked at Dave, the non-verbal request, knowing Dave had Dirk’s back and would not hesitate, knowing this was their only chance if they did not want to keep on fighting endlessly…

“He just–” Dave’s other hand moved in the air, giving strength to his rambling, but the one close to Karkat did not move, so he would not lose that small contact with him. “He looked at me. I knew he was. It fucking clicked what he wanted me to do, and what else could I do? We were three-on-two and yet it felt like we were outnumbered ten-to-one”.

He looked away, eyes falling into the abyss in front of them, but Karkat did not look away from him, not even for a second.

 “I had–” a small, choked sound, and Karkat’s heart broke into tiny shitty fragments. “His head. In my hands. I had to go back twice to get it and his body to safety, because we had to move fast,” his face was twisted in a grimace, and even though Karkat could not see his eyes, he knew they were wide and unseeing, lost back to that moment. His free hand clenched into a trembling fist.  “It weighted like one of my jars back at home, and I could imagine his eyes open and staring at me and–” he swallowed and fell into silence, tremors running down his frame constantly.

It was not fair –Dirk had given up his life willingly so they would win and it had been ok in the end because Jane had saved him, but Dirk hadn’t had to catch his own brother’s severed head and body before running away as Jack English’s head exploded, taking down with it half of a planet.

Dirk was not the one who had to cut his own brother’s head neatly off.

Asking Dave how he felt would be useless. He was not fine, not at all.

Karkat bumped their shoulders together, and was surprised when Dave stilled and instead of moving away, he took Karkat’s hand into his own and squeezed it so tightly it hurt, holding onto it as he tried to calm down.

“…shit,” Dave’s voice wavered, full of emotions Dave could not keep down, and his frame shook visibly. “I…”

“I know,” Karkat squeezed his hand back, offering as much comfort as he could, knowing there was really nothing he could say that could make it ok. “You were strong as fuck, Dave,” he said instead. “You did it. You got that fucker, and Dirk got back up”.

Dave nodded, teeth clenched and his hand holding Karkat’s like it was his only lifeline, and then he took a deep, shaky breath. “I had… his blood was…” his hand opened, palm up, then he closed it again and he did not continue that thought, swallowing it down and refusing to say it.

Karkat cursed under his breath at Dirk, who did not know what he had asked his brother to do, but who had trusted him with his own life at the same time, then he cursed at Lord English, who always messed shit up no matter his form or shape, then cursed at Dave’s own brother even if the guy was long since gone, because he could and because what was there to do other than that?

“I’m sorry,” Dave said, and the word came through gritted teeth, followed by a wave of apologies that Karkat knew were not really for him. He said nothing, and allowed Dave to continue to apologize, his voice quieter and quieter until it fell into silence, though his lips were still moving, mouthing the word ‘sorry’ over and over again.

Behind them, the voices of the others raised up, and Karkat filtered out the laughs of joy of Calliope, Roxy and Rose. Somewhere close by, Dirk and Jake were still talking, and neither seemed tense anymore. In the middle, John and Jane were still hugging Dad Crocker.

Karkat focused solely on the warm feeling of Dave’s hand in his own, and neither moved as Dave focused on breathing, in and out, until finally after an eternity, his trembles subsided.

“We’re going to be ok,” Karkat murmured, looking back at Dave. “You and I. We’re going to be ok, and when this is all said and done, we’ll sit down again and I’ll hug the shit out of you”.

He was not smiling, but he looked so open and honest that Dave relaxed, and his lips pulled up in a smile. It was weak, but it was not forced.

“Yeah man,” he said with a tired chuckle. “You n’ me, we’re getting this show on the road just fine”.

And for now, surrounded by their friends and huddled up together in the wake of their first battle before the end, they were okay.


End file.
